Webster -Jackson 9-13-17

Mounts Webster 3910’ and Jackson 4052’

Webster Loop Trail-Jackson Loop Trail-Webster Cliff Trail

6.5 miles 2450’ Elevation gain

Kevin, Judy & Wicket

At eleven months old and having slowed way down in the rate she had been growing, we felt Wicket was ready to hike a little beyond the scope of the smaller hills and mountains which she had been getting her trail legs on thus far, that is to say, we felt she was ready to take on something a little higher and a little tougher. Something like one of the smaller, more accessible four-thousand footers. The Webster-Jackson Loop seemed perfect.

Not only were we bringing her around slowly at introducing her to the mountains, but we were breaking ourselves back in as well, having taken somewhat of a hiatus over the past several years as I dealt with a deteriorating right hip joint and subsequent hip-replacement along with the emotional side of losing our long-time trail partner Emma. This has been somewhat of a new beginning for us, and is indeed just a beginning for our new trail partner, Wicket.

We together have spent time breaking her in slowly over the spring and summer with hikes like Mounts Straightback & Major, Belknap & Gunstock, Mount Crawford, Black Mountain in Jackson, Lonesome Lake, Caribou Mountain, Burnt Meadow Mountain and Pleasant Mountain in Maine. Learning to be a good trail-dog along with an introduction to camping and kayaking, it has been a very busy year for young Ms. Wicket, and it’s not over yet!

Things have been progressing nicely and at a much more reasonable pace than we did with Emma many years earlier. In retrospect we feel that we allowed her to hike difficult trails at too early an age which we feel probably contributed to her severe arthritis in old age. We certainly hope to not repeat this mistake with Wicket. She has grown big and strong, attributes I would have wished for Emma who, despite her diminutive stature trod the White Mountains under her fuzzy paws…

So, once again after many years, we stood at the Webster-Jackson Loop Trailhead with a young dog that was ready to go. We are happy to find that she is willing to stick pretty close to us, not really adventuring ahead or too far off trail, and seeming to know at the out-start that she should conserve her energy for the long haul, and that the return trip is a more appropriate time to use up her reserves rather than mad dashing off on the uphill climb.

So far she has proven to be a good trail dog with one small exception- there are some situations where she will bark at other hikers, which for us is an undesirable trait which we hope to train out of her. If something is unusual about another hiker, for instance we ran into a girl carrying trash down from one of the huts, she is apt to bark, or if we come around a corner or somehow come upon another hiker unawares she may bark as well. We are hoping this will not always be the case and that with enough positive experience on the trail she will grow out of this.

The day was a beautiful, warm, virtually bug-free day, the kind we had been waiting all summer for. The kind we look forward to each year after the heat and humidity have had their day. Cool, crisp late summer air, perfect temps and beautiful, sun-filled blue sky, couldn’t ask for better. Hints of the approaching season could be seen on the hills and mountains above the notch. It was all the same to Wicket who was just thankful to be out of doors and on the trail seeking new adventures with us.

We made the quick side trip out to Bugle Cliff to take in the views northward of the notch. Subtle changes were beginning around the Highland Center and further west towards Bretton Woods. Beyond this there is some steep, rugged terrain on the way up to the lower trail junction where it makes the loop split. We have almost always taken a counter-clockwise loop, descending after the junction to the Silver Cascade Brook which most people only see from the side of Rte. 302. The falls and pool here are one of my favorites in all of the mountains. There is a log standing, caught in the pool that has stood there for at least 20 years that I know of.

Beyond this we cross another brook with a smaller waterfall and pool which eventually makes it’s way down to the road as well where tourists gather to gawk at what is usually a pitiful trickle unless there has been heavy rain. More steep, rough and often wet terrain and we come out below the summit of Mount Webster no worse for wear. A quick side trip up to the summit which provide incredible views down into Crawford Notch as well as across the notch to the Willey Range. Behind us to the northeast the rest of the Southern Presidential Range forms the ridge up to Mount Washington.

We had lunch on the summit of Mount Webster, and Wicket was introduced to some new trail-friends, the Whiskey Jacks. Canada Grey Jays are notoriously brazen and will gladly land in your hand to accept a snack, invited or not. If you venture to meet these birds for the thrill of experiencing this, please feed them ONLY things they might find naturally in the wild- sunflower seeds, unsalted nuts, NO CHOCOLATE! Wicket was somewhat perturbed that we invited these birds to our picnic, but no shots were fired from either side.

After lunch we picked up where we had left off by descending the spur from Webster which is actually the Webster Cliff Trail, which we would follow in a northeasterly direction to the summit of Jackson. No matter how many times we hike a trail I am amazed as I come to suddenly remembered trail obstacles and rock scrambles that I had blacked out of my memory during previous trips-“Oh yeah-there’s this to get up and over, and then way beyond that before we get there!” I am constantly saying to myself as we hike along.

After many such scrambles and turns, ascents and descents between summits we made the final steep approach to Mount Jackson. The dog had been able to manage each scramble on her own, or find a way around it, as had we. Here we stood on Wicket’s first 4000 Footer, Mount Jackson, on a beautiful, fall-prequel day. Memories of previous trips there, most of them made with Emma, flashed in my mind. Not particularly impressed with it all Wicket chose to sit down and offer Judy kisses until Judy again opened her pack to see what kind of snacks there were still left to offer for a first 4K treat…